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Saturday, May 5, 2012

Phad Thai Veggie Tacos

I’m
a little disappointed today. Some friends decided it would be fun to go to a
waterfall park just outside town for a Saturday barbeque and sent out the email
earlier this week. DFJ and I were excited because we’ve been dying to do
something outdoors and a barbeque picnic next to an awesome waterfall seemed
like a great idea! Unfortunately the weather report for this weekend did not
seem very promising and everyone else decided it was going to be too cold to do
the barbeque at the falls. So they decided on going to a city that’s about a 2
½ hour drive away. I only found out about the change of plans early yesterday
evening because I was not on the initial group email list.

Sometimes
when my mind is set on something for a while and an unexpected change of plans
happen, I’m just not ready for it. Also the 2 ½ hour drive for a day trip just
seemed a little too long and would make for a short weekend. So, we opted out
and now I’m sitting in front of my computer trying to cheer myself up. It’s
only noon on a Saturday and I have the rest of the day to run around outside
and do a ton of cooking and baking… Anyone want to come over and have dinner
with us?

On
the brighter side, I have a great recipe to share with you guys that I made on
Thursday night as an early Cinco de Mayo celebration. This idea for a weird
combination came from an intense craving for phad thai and fajitas. Since I’ve
been sort of anti-meat these past few weeks for lack of real meat around here
(the ones at the grocery store look very unappetizing and the butcher shop ones
are too expensive… sigh), fajitas are not quite possible to make.

Anyway,
I had some ingredients to create Phad
Thai Veggie Tacos. This has the basic vegetable combinations you would
normally get in a phad thai dish and all the vegetables that come along with
fajitas + some spring surprises such as asparagus and kale. The spices are
fajita inspired and includes: cumin, cayenne, paprika, chili powder, and red
pepper flakes.

This
dish is not quite phad thai and not quite fajita, it is somewhere in the
middle. If I may say so myself, it is a great fusion of our most common go-to
Thai and Mexican dishes in restaurants.

Phad Thai Veggie Tacos

1 generous
tbsp coconut oil

4
large garlic cloves, minced

1
medium onion, thinly sliced

heaping
1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped

asparagus,
chopped in small pieces

2
carrots, chopped

1
bell pepper, diced

1
jalapeño, diced

9
oz bean sprouts, rinsed

4 kale
leaves, roughly chopped

1/2
cup cashews, ground like flour

1/4
cup cilantro, roughly chopped

freshly
squeezed juice from 2 key limes

Spice Mixture:

1
tbsp cumin

1/2
tsp cayenne

1/2
tsp paprika

1/2
tsp chili powder

1/2
tsp red pepper flakes

1/2
tsp salt

The
cooking time for each ingredient is pretty short, so I recommend chopping and
preparing all the vegetables first and mixing together the spice mixture in a
small bowl. This way, everything is ready to be tossed in the pan when it’s
time to do so.

Heat
coconut oil in a large pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, sauté the
garlic until it turns golden brown. Cook the onions until soft and stir often,
about 4 minutes. Throw in the mushrooms and cook until soft and fragrant, about
a minute. Stir in the asparagus and cook for a minute and a half. Stir in the
carrots and cook for a minute and a half. Toss in the diced bell pepper and
jalapeno and cook for about a minute. Mix in the bean sprouts, let cook and
stir often for 2 minutes. Throw the spice mixture in and stir well. Add the
kale and cook until it wilts for about a minute. Throw in the powdered cashew
and stir well for a minute. Toss in the cilantro and stir for another minute.
Turn the heat off but keep the pan on the burner. Add ½ teaspoon salt to taste
and squeeze the lime juice in one at a time. Stir well to allow the lime flavor
to get around. Serve immediately over warm corn tortillas.

I
served this with some homemade guacamole on the side… mashed large avocado with
salt, pepper, fresh lime juice, and tomatoes.

Since there was no queso fresco
at the store we bought some No Woman cheese,grated it, and served it on the side. If you
haven’t tried No Woman cheese yet, please check it out the next time you visit
a nice cheese shop or the grocery store. The Jamaican Jerk spices in this
cheese give it a nice, spicy-smoky taste that is just wonderful! For leftovers
last night, I crumbled some feta cheese along with more No Woman and it was
fantastic! (FYI: feta cheese can easily be used if queso fresco is not
available.)

About Me

Hello, my name is Margarita. I try to live a healthy lifestyle by eating well and working out. I am a cooking enthusiast and I like sharing my love for good food. Most of my recipes contain lots of vegetables and perhaps a bit of meat here and there. Staying active is one of the things that keep me sane. I love doing yoga, walking, hiking, biking, lifting weights, and occasional running. Join me in my food, travel, and life adventures and together let's eat well, cook right, live strong, and be healthy!